Centrifugal creamer



, 3 Slueets--Sheer1 2. .W. G..L. LEFELDT 81C'. G. 0. LBNTSCH.

. CBNTRIFUGAL 'CREAMERl Patented Jan. 29, 1884.

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GBNT-RIFUGAL CREA-MBR.

No. 292,662. Patented Ja.11.29, 1884.

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N roman STATES WILHELM ci L. LEFELDT ANDCARL uc o. LENTscH, or scnmNGEN, BRUNs VIGK, GERMANY, ASSIGNORS TQ TI-IEODORE BERGNER, PHILADELPHIA,

PENNSYLVANIA.

CENTRIFUGAL CREAMER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent Nc.'292,662, .dated January 29, 1884.

Application filed July 2", 1&79. Patented in France January To @ZZ whom, it may concern.-

. Be it -kuown that we, WILHELM C. L. LE. vFELD'r and CARL G. O. LENTscH, both of Schuingen,'in the Duchy of Brunswick and Empire of Germany, have jointly invented certain new and useful improvements in the process of creaming milk and in apparatus for` the conduct of such process, of which improvements the following is a specification.

i Our present invention is primarily derived from the process of creaming milk by centrifugal force, and from the apparatus for the conduct of such process described in Letters Patent of the United States No. 195,515,1and will be foundl substantially comprised in the German Letters `Patent No. 9,2111, granted to us under date of January 2S, 187 9, and French Patent No; 128,351, dated January 7, 1879.

The process described in our aforesaid Patent No. 195,515 consists, essentially, in effecting the separation. of the milk and the cream into verticalv belts by centrifugal action, and maintaining their separation by allowing thevrcvolving vessel to subside from its maximum velocity to a state of rest without jerk or shock so slowly or gradually that as the centrifugal force decreases the law of gravitation supervenes, and the verticallbelts of milk and cream subside into distinct horizontal strata' conformablywith their respective specific gravities, the cream being skimmed off by hand after the machine has come to a state of rest, and the skimmed milk being sub sequently removed from the machine to be replaced witha new charge of fresh milk. We have advanced this process of creaming milk by centrifugal force so far as not only to separate the milk from the cream by centrifugal action, but also to remove the cream from the centrifugal machine mechanically and during the. rotation of the vessel, so that after the v cream has been skimmed off the vessel is brought to a state of rest, only to remove the skimmed milk and' to be charged again with freslrmilk, and upon this advance we. havej based a separateapplication for a patent dis-y tinct from this application. u

rlhe improvements described in each of the T, 1879, No. 1:28,.'551, and nGermany January 23,1879; No. 9,241.

'above instances include adaptations of the apparatus to the respective processes. So far in 5e the skimming and creaming process,while the `cream was skimmed off mechanically during the rotation of the vessel, yet with this mechanical skimming the process Was completed, because the feed-supply, which` forced off the cream,consisted entirely of skimmed milk and, therefore, whenV this feed-supply had forced off the cream it yonly remained to remove the body of skimmed milk from the ves'- sel to recharge it with fresh milk, and repeat the creaming and skimming operation. To remove this body of skimmed milk in that process,` after the cream was skimmed off mechanically the vesselwas brought to a state` of rest and emptied, as described in our said further application. The intervals between the completion and the repetition of these op-v erations and the emptying and recharging of the vessel were not inconsiderable, and we soon realized that even in this creaming and skimming process much of the operative capacity of the machine was not'utilized as far as it might be made available-as, for example, when it is observed that the skimmed `milk fed in to remove the cream mechanically does not in 'any other Way contributenfto the product, while in performing this function it does consume time and power and protracts the operation, as already mentioned. ,These facts acquired significance in our own practice by reason of the large scale on which wefwere conducting the v centrifugal creaming operation, and it became an object of solicitude with 4us t0 take the one further step which seemed possible to complete this mechanical creaming and. skimming system 5 andI in this behalf vit became the object, as it is theresult, of our present further improvements'to adapt the apparatus and process to a continuous effective operation on the largest'scale, 'in order that While creaming the milk mechanically, as in ourv said Patent No.195,51 5, andcreaming and skimming it mechanically, asin our said further application,we effect the skimming by feeding in fresh milk instead of skimmed milk,

and without interrupting this feed-supply re'- move not only the cream but the skimmed milk mechanically while the machine continues in operation, so that we can now maintain a continuous supply of fresh milk to the centrifugal machine while maintained at its highest speed of rotation and a continuous withdrawal of the cream and skimmed milk separately as fast as their separation is completed, and thus have at the same time in the machine four operations continuously going on-that is, first, the supply to the machine of a continuons feed of fresh milk; second, the separation of the milk into cream and skimmed milk,with a further separation from both of all impuri ties; third, the mechanical skimming o of the cream and its removal from the rotating vessel; and, fourth, the mechanical removal ythe vessel.

of the milk from the rotating vessel, these removals of the cream and ofthe milk being effected without disturbance of their completed separation from each other and without inten fering with the incipient and progressive stages of the separation in the body of milk supplied; and by this system the operation of the inachine may remain uninterrupted unt-il the Sheer accumulation of impurities on the side of the vessel renders it expedient to stop the machine and empty it, in order to wash it out or otherwise clean it.

In the accompanying drawings we have shown our improved apparatus in the best forms known to ns, and we proceed to describe our continuous process as conducted in this apparatus, showing and describing also ce1,`-` tain inodiiications of the apparatus and of the process which we contemplate using, as eircumstances may dictate.

Figure l` is a longitudinal central section through an improved continuous creaming apparatus, the vessel rotating on a horizontal axis, and the cream being skimmed oft' at one end while the skimmed milk is removed at the opposite end, the fresh milk being supplied through the axis at the same end at which the cream is removed, and this we deem the best system. Fig. 2 is a similar section of a modification in which the same process is adapted to a machine substantially the same, except that it rotates on a vertical axis, the fresh milk being supplied and the cream removed at the top while the skimmed milk is removed at the bottom ot' the -vesselyand Fig. 3 is a similar section of another modification of substantially the same apparatus, in which the vessel rotates on a vertical axis, and the fresh milk is supplied and the cream skimmed off andthe skimmed milk removed at the top of In Fig. l the vessel A is secured on its shaft G, which'rotates in bearings g/ 1/ on the up rights Y Y, mounted on a bed-plate or on the floor, and held together by the cross-girts V. The vessel A is made of metal, and of suitable strength-to meet the requirements of a centrifugal machine. It is a cylinder closed at one end -by the head a, on which is mounted the driving-pulley I3, secured to the shaft G, on which shaft this end of the vessel A is -made fast. The shaft is bored out from its adjacent end through this head, and has a cross-hole, a', opening on the inside of the cylinder. The opposite end of the vessel also has a head, c; but this head has a central opening in it through which the shaft projects, and in which is the small end ot' the coned sleeve F, surrounding the shaft and secured thereto, as presently to be described, an annular space being left between the end of this coned sleeve and the opening in the head c. Upon the projecting end ot' the shaft is the adjustable cap b, fitting down upon the opening in the head a ol the cylinder. Vithin the cylinder is the drum A. This drum is a smaller cylinder concentric with the cylinder A, and having a head, b', while the other end of the drum is open upon the head a of the cylinderA. The drum A is permanently secured to the cylinder A and to the shaft G, so as to leave a space between the head b of the drum and the head c ofthe cylinder A, and also having an annular space between the drum and the cylinder, from the head c to the head a'. Vithin the drum the coned sleeve F surrounds the shaft, from the opening in the head c of the cylinder to within a short distance of the head b of the drum, so as to leave around the shaft a conical annular space between it and the coned sleeve, while a small space is also left between the head b of the drum and the flared bottom f ol' the coned sleeve, and also asmall space between the edge of the fla-red bottom of the coned sleeve and the wall of the drum.

In the shaft G, near the head a of the cylinder, and within the coned sleeve, is a crosshole, x', communicating with a channel c', extending through the shaft from this point to its outer end. The drum has radial partitions b2, extending from its side toward the coned sleeve, as far as the circumference ol" the opening in the end a of the cylinder; and it will be observed that a space is still left between the coned sleeve and the inner edges of these partitions, along their entire length, and also openings are left between the ends of these partitions and the end c of the cylinder. It is not essential, however, that there should be end openings between the partitions bi and the head c of the cylinder, nor is it essential that the partitions should extend entirely to the side of the drum, as the centrifugal action is not affected by the presence or absence of such spaces so long as the radial partitions impel the body of the charge, which is their only essential function. A series of holes, c, afford communication between the interior of the drum and the annular and end spaces between the drum and the cylinder, thus establishing communica-tions through the shaft G and the drum from one end of the cylinder to the other, as will be more fully understood by nowV recapitulating as follows: The channel through the shaft G, communicating through I OO IIO

the cross-hole x', opens into the coned sleeve F, from which there are open passages beneathy and around theared bottom ofthe coned sleeve into the drum A', and from this drum the openings c communicate at the opposite ends of the drum with the annular and end spaces between the drum and the'cylinder, as already mentioned, and from the end space between the head c of the cylinder and the head b' of the drum communication continues through the cross-hole x out through the channel in that end of the shaft. A

Around the adjustable screw-cap b, which covers the opening i'n the end a"`of the cylin der, we t an annular chamber, D, from the bottom of which an outlet-pipe, d, leads off the cream to any suitable receptacle. The channel c in the shaft G has a cap, g', which revolves with the shaft, and through this cap a stationary inlet-pipe, y?, connects with the supply of fresh milk. On the opposite end of the shaft a regulating-cock, H, is fitted, so as to allow the opening or closing -of communication through the channel c2 with the chamber H',from which au outlet-pipe,h`, leads off the skimmed milk to any suitable receptacle.

The operation of the above-described apparatus is as follows: The inletpipe, gi'being connected with a feed-supply of fresh milk, and thefeedsupply being regulated by a cock, and the outlet through the cock H being also adjusted, Apower is applied from any suitable, motor to the driving-pulley B. It is immaterial whether the vessel be charged or partially charged before it is started or duringits rotation and before it lattains its maximum the supply that when thev vessel attains its maximum speed of rotation the charge will be of the proper volume, and at that` point the feed should be stopped for iifteen or twenty minutes, or while the first .separation of the cream is effected. rllhefcondition of the charge at this point will be as described in our previous speciiication-that is, the impurities will have been thrown against the wall of the drum A', the cream will have beenthrown toward the center of the drum ,and the skimmed milk will have been formed in a belt between the cream and the wall of the drum, these separations forming distinct annular belts about the horizontal axis of the vessel instead of vertical belts, as where the vessel rotates on a vertical axis. The charge being now ready for the skimming stage of the process, and the rotation ofthe vessel being maintained at its maximum velocity, the feed-supply is opened under suchregulation as to admit the fresh milk in the proper quantity through the channel'c into the coned sleeve F, and from thence out beneath and around the iiared bottom f of the coned vsleeve into the' belt of skimmed milknext the wall of the drum, this supplyI being acted upon in -its course by the centrifugal force, so that when it reachesl the belt of milk it has already been incipiently creamed and itsconstituents-to wit, the fatty Ato the volume of the belt of milk being ofv course much greater than the contribution to. the belt of cream. The belt of cream is cor-` i respondingly contracted about the axis of the vessel, and moved out-past the edges of the partition b2 until it escapes around the coned sleeve, through the opening in the head a' of the cylinder A, and flies out under the screwcap b into the annular chamber D,from which it runs oit' through the pipe el to the receptacle. Meanwhile the volume of skimmed milk, con` fined as it is to the space within that occupied by the cream as it is displaced by accretion, does not rcachthe central opening in the head a', but passes off through the holes c, around the end a' ofthe vessel, (the number of these holes being adapted to the volume of the required dischargeQ into the annular space bctween the'drum and the cylinder, and thence into the end space between the head a of the cylinder and the head b' of the drum,'whence it escapes through the cross-hole x Vinto the channel of", and out through the cock H into the chamber H', from which the pipe zf" leads it off into the receptacle. v Y

The operation above described is very perfe'ct and uniform, subject only to the due regulation of the supply and thedischarge, as to which regulation no specific rule can be prescribed, but which must beleft to the judgment of the operator, who will require but very little experience in or observation of the working of the process to determine when he is feeding too fast or too slow, and when the milk is being discharged before it is thoroughly creamed', and, in fact, the laws under which the process is effected are so uniform that it is merely a question of care whether the products are more or less perfectly separated; and it will be found that the specific gravities of the constituents of the charge under the action of the centrifugal force, when.A not counteracted by undue rapidity of feed, not only force the cream to the center and retain the skimmed milk outside of it, but keep the accretions to the volume of the skimmed milk suspended, as it were, within the belt of skimmed milk until the separation from it of all the particles of cream lis effected, so that, while these particles go toward the center, the heavier particles go in the opposite direction, and there'is no tendency either in 'the cream to go to the wall or in the skimmed milk to go to the center, so that cream alone escapes into the chamberD and skimmed milk alone escapes through the openings c; and these incipient and progressive separations are effected, as above described, without any such disturbance of the belt of cream as would impair its complete segregation. i s It will thus be seen that we have now described and shown our perfected` system of continuously creaming and skimming milk mechanically; and it only remains to add that the process may be practiced without interruption until the accumulation ot' impurities upon the wall ot' the drum renders it expedient to remove them, to do which the machine must be stopped and any charge remaining therein removed, when steam or hot water may be introduced and the vessel scoured. The removal of the charge and the introduction of steam or hot water, and the removal of impurities we provide for without necessarily dismounting the machine by openings Z Z, made through the cylinder A and the drum A', and closed by removable covers, these being placed opposite each other, as shown, so as not to disturb the balance of the vessel while rotating. \Vhen indications are found that the vessel is in a foul condition, and it is proposed to stop the machine, it is only necessary, in order to do this without any loss of cream, to shut off the supply of fresh milk and to feed instead thereof a sufficient quantity of skimmed milk to complete the skimming of the charge in the vessel, so that when the vessel is stopped it will contain only the residnum of skimmed milk to be drawn olf through the hand-hole Z.

In Fig. 2 wc have shown a modification of the apparatus above described, in which our continuous system is conducted upon substantiallythc same principle, but in a vessel rotating upon a vertical axis, the cream heilig skimmed off at the top and the skimmed milk being drawn off at the bottom. ln this case the revolving cylinder A is supported on a shaft, (l, in the frame Y, with a step, y, for the lower end of the shaft in the base-plate V and a bearing, y', for the upper end of the shaft in the cross-girt Y.

To facilitate the dismounting of the machine when necessary,we fit over this bearing in the cross-girt a hinged cover, r, which is secured by a bolt, fw. The driving-pulley B is secured to the shaft (l and to the bottom a of the cylinder.

In the general details of construct-ion and arrangement of .parts the cylinder and drum are made as already described, being, substantially the machine shown inFig. l set up on end. It has the channel c and the cross-hole 41:', through which the fresh milk is admitted under the regulated feed g", to the interior of the coned sleeve F, and thence underneath and around the iiared bottom f ofthe coned sleeve into the drum A. It also has the radial partitions b2, the annular opening around the upper end of the cened sleeve for the escape of the cream, and the openings c e in the wall of the drum, through which the skimmed milk escapes into the annular space between the drum'and the cylinder. An annular trough, H, is supported on the frame underneath the cylinder, to receive the skimmed milk as it escapes therefrom, and a pipe, h, leads it off to the receptacle. An annular trough, D, is

supported in the frame at the upper end of the cylinder, to receive the cream as it escapes therefrom, and a pipe, d, leads it olf to the receptacle. The adjustable screw-cap b is simply modified byextending its rim so as to cover the surface of the upper end of the cylinder,between which and the rim the escaping cream is confined and conducted into the trough l).

XVe have shown a cup, y, on the shaft, the object of which is to catch anydrip of the lubricator from the bearing y', which might other wise find its way into the machine.

XVe also modify the construction of thebottom plate, a, of the cylinder by substituting for the cross-holes@I and channel c2 in Fig. l a series of verti cal holes, 11. n, through the bottom and we leave the bottom b ofthe drum free to be turned on the shaft, by loosening the screw-bolts1 1', which clamp it to the cylinder, and for which movement we provide slotted openings in the bottom a of the cylinder. A series of radial channels, n', in the bottom b of the drum coincide with the openings u ny in the bottom of the cylinder, and to regulate the discharge of the skimmed milk it is only necessary to loosen the. bolts and move them in their slots, thereby turning the bottom of the drum so that the edges of thc radial channels in the bottom b will more or less close the openings n n. Since the drum is connected with the cylinder, and they revolve together, and it is therefore desirable to steady their connection, we make the bottom b a properly-fitted separate plate, so that the above-described adjustinent can be made without turning the drum itself.

The'operatiou is exactly as described with reference to Fig. l, the belts of cream and milk only being vertical instead of horizontal.

In Fig. 3 wehave shown another modification of our continuous system in amachine revolv ing on a vertical axis, but discharging both the cream and the skimmed milk at the top of ,the vessel. This machine, like that shown iu Fig. 2, is supported in aframe, Y, on the shaft G, and driven by the pulley B. We here reverse the ends of the drum -A, making the plate b the top of the drum, while the drum opens at the bottom upon the plate a of the cylinder. The cream and the milk both being discharged at the same end in this case, no annular space is required between the cylinder and the drum. rlhe channel c and cross-hole :c conduct the regulated supply from the feed g2 into the coned sleeve F, under and around which it escapes into the drum, where it is separated into vertical belts of cream and milk, as already so fully described.

rlhe top of the drum and of the cylinder are adapted to the escape of the milk and cream, respectively, at one and the same end by the following simple modification in their conseruction: lVliile the annular space around the upper end of the coned sleeve remains as before, and while the cream escapes through IOO lhis annular space and passesV off between the top 4of the drum and the rim of the adjustable capes into the space between the top plate, b,

of the drum and the top plate, a', of the cylinder, into the annular trough H, within and concentric with the annular trough D.. From this trough H the milk is conducted off through the pipe if to the receptacle. These troughs D and H are supported on the frame, as shown in the drawings, and to prevent the skimmed milk from being thrown into the trough. D we have a deflector, z, depending from the under side of the discharge-channel, against which deilector the milk is thrown, so that it falls into the trough The details of this arrangement of discharge channels, troughs, and deflector will i be readily understood from the drawings. The screws o o' in the bottom `of the vessel are simply for removal when it is desired to' have an opening in the bottom of the vessel for cleaning.

The operation is the same as hereinbefore explained, except only in the above-mentioned particnlarthat is to say, both the cream and the skimmed milk are drawn off at thersame end, instead of at different ends, as in Fig. 2.

Our description of the foregoing process and apparatus has been restricted to their use for 'use for creaming milk. but claim these improvements, broadly, for whatever purpos they may be used. c

In all three of the vessels above described the same rule obtains in this further respect that whenever there lis an escape for: the skimmed milk either laterally, as in Figs. 1 and 2, or vertically, asin Fig. 3, at the outer edge or through the wall or end of the .drum A, the process may be either continuous, as

' we have described, or it may be intermitted y after the cream has been skimmed off' by stopping the feed-supply, as already mentioned;

and although we have described the process aslcontinuous, and the bringing of the vessel to a state of rest when it is desired to cleanse thev apparatus, yet when it is unnecessary to stop the machine for this purpose the machine need not be stopped in orderto remove the skimmed milk, because, after the `cream has been skimmed off, if the` machine is kept in rapid rotation and the supply stopped ,the centrifugal force will drive off the remaining con; tents 'of the vessel 'through the openings cc; and this is w'vhat we nian by interinittiiig tlieprocess, ,to Vresume which it is only'necessary while the machine continues to rotate to charge it afresh. Moreover, it maybe sometimes ex! pedient to augment the volume of thev charge without contributing tothe cream obtained from it, and in such cases skimmed milk, or lmilk and water, oreven water alone, may be fed in forwthe purpose of driving off the belt of cream. This, however, is only practicable -when the process is intermitted, as above described, because if such 'a supply was continued after the cream was driven off, there would be no practical result, but only a discharge of skimmed milk or milkV and water.

` Having thus ,described the nature and objects of our improvements,what we claim herein new, and desire to secure by Letters` Patel] l, 1S

l. The combination of the cylinder A with the drum A,revolving together, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination of the drum, the cylinder, the channel o', the cross-hole m', and the coned sleeve, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3.` The combination of the cylinder A, the drum A', the inlet c, and the outlet c, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. The-combination of the cylinder A, the drum A', and the screw-cap b, substantially as and for the purposes described.

5. The combination of the cylinder, the drum, the screw-cap, the chamber or trough D, and the outlet c2 with the chamber or trough H', substantially as and for the purposes described. v

6.k The combination of the cylinder, the supply gl, and the discharge H, substantially as and for the purposes described.

7. That improvement in the method or process of creaming milk which consists in separating the cream therefrom by centrifugal action, discharging a portion of the' skim-milk while the drum is inrapid rotation,then feeding the drum while in rapid rotation, so that the `fresh milk is introduced next the inner wall ot the drum into the skim-milk in the drum, and between the drum and the cream-,wall previously formed and then established within the drum. A

. S. That improvement in the art of feeding orintroducing milk into a centrifugal machine, to separate the milk from the cream and keep the cream-wall unbroken during the creaming operation, which consists in feedingthe milk into the machine next the inner wall of the then revolving drum. f y

9. A closed centrifugal drum mounted upon a vertical tubular axle, and provided with interior radial flanges, and with a series of pe-l ripherical discharge-tubes located above the drum.

10. A closed centrifugal drum mounted upon IOO a vertical tubular axle, and provided Withinterior radial flanges, and with a dischargctube concentric With the axle, opening from the upper center of the drum.

ll. A closed centrifugal drum provided with i a double set of central discharge-pipes adjustable in relation to each other, one of said pipes communicating with the periphery and the other with the center of the druln.

12. A' closed centrifugal drum provided with radial interior ilangcs, and a double set ofw'ertical discharge-tubes, in combination with a central vertical tubular axle, and a distributing-shiel d attached thereto.

VILHELM C. L. LEFELDT.

CARL G. O. LNNTSGH.

\Vii nesses:

JN0'. KRACKE, BRUNO GARDE. 

